Withdrawal string connection for tampons



MaylS, 1951 F. P. PARISH 2,553,000

WITHDRAWAL STRING CONNECTION FOR TAHPONS Fiied July 26, 1949 I A IN VENTOR.

i FRA/Wl 10. PAH/5h;

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'Arron/ver v Patented May 15,1951' WITHDRAWAL STRING CONNECTION FORTAMPONS Frank P.v Parish, Taneytown, Md., assigner to Sanitary ProductsCorporation,

Taneytown,

Md., a corporation of Illinois Application .July 26, 1949', SerialfNo.1063843 (Cl. 12S-2.85)

3' Claims.

The present invention relates to newv and useful improvements intampons, and, more particularly, to an improved catamenial tampon with awithdrawal element so .connected therewith that the possibility ofpulling away. from the tampon upon withdrawal -when the tampon isexpanded and saturated by contact with the body fluids is eliminated andat the. same time undue restriction of the free expansion of the tamponis prevented.

It is well known thatin order to readily withdraw tampons after theyhave `been used in body cavities, a Withdrawal string is `attached to`the rear end of the tampon. In certain types of tampons usually formedof wound absorbent material, the withdrawal string is doubled and a loopformed in the bight surrounds the circumference of the tampon with thefree ends carried through the tampon and rearwardly either alongside orthrough the end. This forms a reasonably safe attachment butthesurrounding loop has a tendency to restrict the free .expansion of.the absorbent, material The present improvement relates to a typeoitampon com-pressed to self-sustaining cylindrical form and has for itsobject a positive securing means for the withdrawal string of sufficientstrength so that it will not pull loose from the rear end of the tamponupon withdrawal from the body cavity and. will not restrict the `freeexpansion of the absorbent material.

Another object of the invention is yto provide .a novel tampon formed,ofv folded absorbent material side edge compressed laterally into a.selfsustaining cylinder for insertion into ya body cavity and anendlooped Astring withdrawal element passing through the tampon near thevoriginal fold line andat a critical angle thereto vso as to encompass asuiicient quantity of the folded and compressedmaterial to ensure apositive and safe grip for withdrawal when the tampon is eX- panded bycontact with the body fluids.

These and other objects of the present invention will appear as thefollowing description thereof proceeds, and in order to more clearlyunderstand the invention, referencel may be had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which an .embodiment of the inventioncis shown.

In the drawing:

Figure l illustrates a perspective view of the folded, flat strip offibrous absorbent material, fromwhich the tampon is formed;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of Fig. l, showing the original fold lineof said folded strip, a perpendicular line thereto, and the criticalgripping angle involved in the present invention;

Figure 3 depicts a perspective view of the tampon edge compressed'tocylindrical form with. the withdrawal string applied in accordancel withthe principles of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 illustrates an end view of the tampon in a somewhat expandedstate upon contact with and absorption of body fluids.

Generically this invention relates to an improved withdrawal means fortampons formed of folded absorbent material compressed to selfsustainingform. In the embodiment illustrated, there isshown in FigureV 1- theatstrip vof folded absorbent material from which the tampon is formed.The flat strip is usually of cotton or ce1- lulose fibers whichinherently have little resistance to a direct linear pull in an expandedstate, particularly as the fibers are arrangedparallel to the length ofthe strip. Initially the stripv is fiat and is folded on Va cross ortransverse fold line l, near its medial point to form. fold portions 2and 3 of unequal length. It is then compressed to a cylindrical form 4as shown inFigure 3'by laterally side edge compression and heattreatment to render the tampon self-sustaining. The insertion end or tipis provided with a coating 5 which is a soluble substance to facilitateentrance into body cavities. It is preferred to use a substance of thecharacter described in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,340,311 and 2,440,141.

The withdrawal means employed are connected to the rear end of thetampon 4 opposite the coated tip 5 and comprise a looped string 6 of acharacter well Aknow-n in .the art. The loop l of the string is formedby doubling a single piece of string and after insertion through thecylindrical tampon, passing the free ends through a bight 8. The-string6 is preferably applied to the self-sustaining tampon by ya sewingmachine in which .an awl'flrst punches a hole 9, preferably in a`diametrical direction, through the tampon below the original fold line land then a needle carries the string through, a loop forming mech-.anism forms' the loop and upon the return :of

the needle the free ends v,ofthe string are passed through the bight toform a loop'l' over'the rear end yof the tampon.

As shown `particularly'in Figures 2 and 13, the portions of the string 6of the loop l that pass through the tampon 4 are at a critical grippingangle to a line perpendicular to the original fold line I of the tamponstrip. Due to the fact that the strip is side edge compressed laterallyto cylindrical form, the fold line and side edge line between the foldedportions 2 and 3 are maintained in some degree although not apparent tothe eye when the tampon is compressed to a selfsustaining form. However,when the tampon is expanded due to absorption of body fluids thesedefining lines exist. It has been found that the critical gripping anglemay vary from about 30 to about 60, but is preferably about 45 whereloop 'i of string 6 bisects the angle between the original fold line anda line perpendicular thereto (see Figs. 2 and 4). The fragmentary Viewillustrated in Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the upper portion of thetampon. The fold line F-F is horizontal and is parallel to the top ofthe folded strip. At right angles to the fold line is the perpendicularline P-P. Between these two lines is a bisecting line B-B whichindicates the preferred gripping angle of 45. At such angle, thewithdrawal string obtains a positive and safe grip while at the sametime not restricting the free and unrestricted expansion of the tamponltampon i below the original fold line l and at a critical grippingangle thereto is an important feature of the invention. The presentimprovement will be appreciated when it is realized that the tampon 4expandsfupon contact with body iiuids and the inherent nature of thefibrous material under such conditions substantially weakens theresistance of gripped material under a linear pull, such as uponwithdrawal of the saturated tampon by the string 5. The smaller the massof folded fibers'gripped by the loop 1, the greater the possibility ofthe loop 'i pulling away from the expanded tampon. However the greaterthe mass of iibers gripped, the more restriction there is to expansionupon saturation. By inclining the end loop 'l at an angle to a lineperpendicular to the original fold line of the tampon,

a sufficient mass of fibrous material is grippedl 4to free andunrestricted expansion of the tampon to such an extent as to prevent thequick and ready absorption of body uids when inserted into a body cavityis not materially reduced. In other words, the looped string passesthrough the tampon near the original fold line at a critical angle so asto encompass a suflicient quantity of folded and compressed material toensure a positive and safe grip for the withdrawal of the tampon when inan expanded state after contact with and absorption of the body fluidsWhile at the same time not `gripping substantially more of the foldedand compressed material than is necessary. Furthermore, the possibilityof the withdrawal string pulling loose is eliminated. In

v Figure 5, the position of the loop 1 is illustrated when the tampon 4is in a somewhat expanded state upon absorption of body fluids. Thisclearly illustrates the reduced mass of folded fibers.

gripped by the inclined loop with respect to the line perpendicular tothe original fold line.

The present invention has beenfound not only to eliminate thepossibility of the withdrawal l parallel to the fold line which. has atendency to restrict expansion of the tampon when used in a body cavity.

Although the improved withdrawal string connection for tampons has beenillustrated and described herein to a detailed extent, it will beunderstood that the invention is not to be regarded as limited theretobut includes all modifications and variations coming within the terms ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tampon formed of a at strip of folded absorbent material edgecompressed laterally to self-sustaining cylindrical form, and a loopedslip knot withdrawal string at one end thereof with a portion of theloop passing through the tampon at an angle ranging between 30 and 60with respect to a line perpendicular to the original fold adapted toencompass when tightened sufficient absorbent material at such angle toa line perpendicular to the original fold line to ensure a positive andsafe grip when the absorbent material is expanded upon contact with bodyfluids without unduly restricting expansion.

2. A tampon formed of a at strip of absorbent material folded lengthwiseupon a transverse fold line and'edge compressed laterally toself-sustaining cylindrical form, and a looped slip knot withdrawalstring at one end thereof With a portion of the loop bisecting thetampon at an angle ranging between 30 and 60 with respect to a lineperpendicular to the original transverse fold line and below the sameadapted to encompass when tightened sufficient absorbent material atsuch angle to a line perpendicular to the original fold line to ensure apositive and safe grip when the absorbent material is expanded uponcontact with body uids without unduly restricting expansion.

3. A tampon formed of a flat strip of absorbent material foldedlengthwise upon a transverse fold line and edge compressed laterally toselfsustaining cylindrical form, and a looped slip knot withdrawalstring at one end thereof with a portion of the loop bisecting thetampon at an angle of 45 with respect to a line perpendicular to theoriginal transverse fold line and below the same adapted to encompasswhen tightened sufficient absorbent material at such angle to a lineperpendicular to the original fold line to ensure a positive and safegrip when the absorbent material is expanded upon contact with body uidswithout unduly restricting" expansion.

FRANK P. PARISH.

REFERENCES CITED FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov. 24,1939 Number

